


The Fragility of Wishes

by stellacanta



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Madoka Magica Fusion, Being Meguca Is Suffering, M/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 22:11:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13374108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: He couldn’t have known that it was a folly to waste something as limitless as a wish on something as malleable as another human. Humans were soft and weak, and prone to change on whim. Wishes weren’t.





	The Fragility of Wishes

**Author's Note:**

> You do not have to have watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica to understand this fic. I think I have explained all the concepts within it more or less well. Be warned that this is not a happy fic (I don’t believe in happy Madoka fics). If any of the fic warnings (character death and suicide) make you squeamish, I suggest you hit the back button. 
> 
> For those that are okay with super angsty fics, enjoy :’)

_He gently rested the butt of the gun on the cool, glass surface of the soul gem on the ground. A swirling dark cloud had nearly swallowed the deep ocean blue of the gem._

_Aaron took in one deep breath, two, before he flicked off the safety and steadied himself. His hands were shaking as he lifted the gun and pointed it at the trinket on the ground. No one had ever told him what would happen if the dark regions of soul gem completely swallowed the bright regions. It was probably nothing good though, not if they were supposed to be using grief seeds to remove the corruption from the soul gems._

_(He had tried, so hard. But no matter how hard he tried to rid the city of archmages and collect their grief seeds, the corruption had only continued to grow, driven by his grief and the stress of his job. Somehow, the corruption had grown faster than his ability to cleanse it.)_

_“Are you really going to do that, Aaron?” He looked up to find a cat-like creature sitting on a table above where he’s kneeling, watching him. “Hmm, I suppose I’ll have to stop you. I must admit though, no one has ever reacted like this before though. Usually they just- fall.” There was something about the tone of voice and how sinister that always there smile on the creature’s face looked that made Aaron narrow his eyes. “But, oh yes, I was supposed to stop you wasn’t I?” The creature turned back to face something behind it. “Spencer! He’s in here! Come quick!”_

_“Hotch!?” Aaron looked up as Spencer rushed into the room. “Hotch I got your message, are you-“ Spencer froze when he took in the scene before him. “H-hotch? Are you going to-“_

_“I’m sorry Reid.” Aaron’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I have to.”_

……

(But this isn’t where the story starts.)

The cat-like creature purred in contentment when the man in front of the creature asked it to clarify. “Well I mean exactly that, sir,” the creature said as it looked towards the man. “Haven’t you ever wondered why people do such terrible things? Murder people, hurt other people? Haven’t you ever wondered what would cause them to do such a thing?”

“Because there are terrible people out there who do terrible things,” the man scoffed. “Sometimes they’ve experienced things that make them mistrustful of other people, and then something triggers them to start killing.” A dark look crossed the man’s face before he turned to the creature. “My job is to figure out why they would start killing and to track them down. I don’t wonder why they would do such a thing anymore.”

The creature was silent for a moment, but the man could almost feel the amusement that rolled off of it in waves. “Is that so? Well, what if I told you there were evil beings that feed on the dark feelings deep inside humans and brought them to the surface? What if I were to give you a way to rid your city of these evil beings?”

“Evil- beings? I’m not sure I follow.” The cat-like creature ignored the man and began to wander down a side street. The man stared after it for a long moment before he followed after it. The creature led him to a nondescript wall that surrounded a nearby park. Nondescript, except for the fact there seemed to be a circle on it with colorfully intricate designs that just almost as tall as he was. The circle seemed to float in the air just above the wall. “What?” He reached out to touch it and was shocked when his hand went through.

The creature cleared its throat and he jerked his hand back from whatever it was and looked to the creature in confusion. “This is the barrier to the archmage’s field. Inside you will find the archmage that caused the one you sought to go insane and start killing people.” The creature looked up at him. “I have a simple proposition for you. Will you make a contract with me so that I can give you the power to rid your city of these archmages so that you may bring the peace and order that you so seek?”

“What does a contract entail?”

The creature closed its eyes in delight. “Oh, don’t be that way. It’s not a bad thing, I assure you. The contract is a mutual exchange of sorts. In return for me giving you the powers and responsibility that being a magical warrior entails, I grant you one wish. See, there’s nothing bad about that.”

“One wish? In exchange for being a, what did you call it, a magical warrior? Any wish?”

“Mhmm. Anything you can think of.”

The man raised an eyebrow, not sure if he truly believed that. Surely there had to be limits right? If only to not defy the laws of reality? Still, he had been shown something remarkable today that made him think that reality had a bit more to it than he had originally believed. He took a deep sigh and looked towards the hovering circle. “In that case, I wish for … “

……

_“But why, Hotch?” Aaron didn’t answer as he ducked his head to look at the soul gem on the ground. The bright ocean blue that remained seemed to sparkle and glow as the dark cloud ebbed and flowed over the color that remained. The region got smaller and smaller with each successive wave. “What about Jack, Hotch? Are you going to make him an orphan?” Aaron looked up at the name of his son. “A-and the team.” The look on Spencer’s face softened somewhat. “The team would fall apart without you, Hotch. We barely stayed together when Gideon left, do you think the team could make it if you weren’t there?”_

_Aaron looked into Spencer’s eyes and felt his will strengthen. “If the team survived Gideon leaving, then it can survive me not being there. Besides, Jack’s with Jess. Even if I’m not there, Jess will still take care of him like he was her own son.” He looked back down at the soul gem on the ground._

……

“Hotch! Duck!”

Aaron looked back towards the source of the command in surprise, just managing to duck the sword that swung overhead. There was a screech as the puffball behind him poofed out of existence. He looked up at the person who swung the sword. “Reid?!” Of all the people he would have expected to find inside an archmage’s field, Spencer Reid had not even been on that list. “What are you doing here?”

Spencer gave him a quizzical look. “Helping you. What does it look like I’m doing?” Aaron opened his mouth to give a sarcastic retort when Spencer shoved him down and threw a cloak over him. A deep burgundy cloak that was part of his outfit, Aaron couldn’t help but note. “Hide!”

The cloak enveloped the pair of them as a line of animated dandelion heads moved past. They sang an eerie song as they scuttered past, the scissors at their sides snapping open and shut as they moved. Aaron could feel Spencer shutter from behind him. “What are those things?”

“They’re the archmage’s minions,” Aaron replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve noticed that this particular archmage has two of them. The ones you see before you, and flying water can mosquitos.”

There was a moment of silence where Aaron could imagine Spencer scrunching up his face and mouthing the words ‘flying water can mosquitos’. “O-oh. I- don’t think I’ve seen those actually. Just, um-“ Aaron waited while Spencer gathered his thoughts. “-you know, the moving dandelion heads with scissors for hands and this lovely scenery that seems to be a cross between the munchkin village in the Wizard of Oz, and someone’s twisted fantasy version of the forest in Snow White. Complete with bleeding flowers and nightmareish trees and vines that seem to be reaching for you. Are- are all archmage’s fields quite this strange?”

Aaron turned to give Spencer a flat look. “If you mean to ask if they’re pure nightmare fuel sceneries that even Tim Burton would find to be too much. Yes, they are. This isn’t even the worst one I’ve seen.”

“O-oh.” Spencer seemed taken aback by what was said, before he began to look around them. The cloak hid them from the view of the archmage’s minions, but it allowed everything around them to be seen. “I wonder how an archmage’s field gets created. Is it created by the archmage itself or is it dependent on scenery? I mean, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that this field was created in a garden of some sort, but- the barrier was in a car park. The closest garden is miles away if you don’t count the nice bit of landscaping in front of the office building its next to, which makes the former seem unlikely. That seems to imply that the archmage made this field themselves then.” There was a distant look in Spencer’s eyes as he looked around him, before he looked back towards Aaron. Apparently, he wasn’t done speaking. “Also, the dandelion-shaped minions. Did you know that despite everyone thinking all dandelions are one species, there are actually several dandelion species? It’s thought that on the British Isles along, there might be 235 separate microspecies of dandelions.” Spencer looked at the line of dandelion-shaped minions that were quickly scurrying out of view. “Also, dandelions are said to symbolize the sun, moon, and stars. The yellow flower representing the sun, the ‘puffball’ representing the moon, and the seeds representing the stars. They’re also supposedly useful in gardens because they improve the soil quality by increasing the nitrogen content, and that of other minerals, in the soil.”

“That would explain why they’re dandelions and not some other plant then. It fits the theme with the flying watering can mosquitos.” Aaron glanced quickly around them. “It seems like we’re alone. We should probably try to get inside the inner sanctum before we get waylaid by anything else.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea.” The cloak was swiftly removed from their heads and Aaron stood up, legs a bit sore from crouching so long. “The inner sanctum, huh? Is it going to be far from here? Do we know where it is?”

Aaron nodded his head towards the path they were on. “Just follow the yellow brick road down.” Spencer sputtered a bit in response as Aaron turned back with a grim look on his face. “Oh, and- whatever you do, try not to slash the webbed mummy-like things you see dotted around the garden.” He gestured towards a few webbed things that he could spot, some of which were twitching. “Those are people who had the misfortune to get caught inside this archmage’s field. Feel free to destroy any plants growing around them though, I think they’re feeding on the people inside.”

Aaron didn’t see the horrified look that Spencer gave his back before the genius followed him down the road to where the archmage was hiding.

(Much later, after the archmage was dead, there was a conversation.

“Reid, I- I don’t know what wish you made with the creature and I’m not going to press you on it, but are you sure that this is something you want to do? It’s dangerous fighting these things, and I don’t want you getting hurt if you’re doing this out of some misplaced sense of duty. I- don’t know if you can undo the contract, but-“

“-Hotch, this is something I want to do. You’ve been fighting these things alone for so long now, and- and I’d feel better if I were there to watch your back.”

“Oh. If you’re sure then.”)

……

_“Hotch.” Spencer’s eyes softened as he looked down at his boss. Aaron refused to look up to meet the pitying look that was sure to be on his subordinate’s face. “That’s not the same as being raised by you though? If- if you do this, it’s going to make Jack an orphan, Hotch. Is that really what you want?”_

_Aaron didn’t say a word. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The ocean blue of the soul gem seemed to glow and the darkness seemed to ebb just a little. This is what he must do. This is what he_ had _to do. (For the good of the team, for the good of Jack.)_

……

Aaron held the grief seed in his hands. A hard-worn trophy of his victory over the archmage. He held it up to the sunlight and watched the way the metal gleamed in the light.

On a ledge somewhere above his head, the cat-like creature from before looked down at him. Its tailed swished gently behind it. “Ah, you have done well, mage, to rid the city of the archmage so quickly. Many are indebted to you for your work in ridding the city of such evil.”

Aaron grunted. He moved the grief seed next to the ocean blue soul gem he had in his other hand. It was something the creature had taught him to do. He watched as the darkness from his soul gem was sucked into the grief seed. He watched as the darkness was trapped within the bounds of the small metal cage. He wondered what force kept the darkness instead of letting it disperse.

The similarity of the two items in hand gave him pause. The grief seed he had in his hands looked like a rounder version of his egg-shaped soul gem. Both had metal ridges that ran from the top to the bottom, and both had a fancy metal knob at the top of them. His soul gem had a small base it rested on, whereas the grief seed had a sharp needle at its base.

Aaron held his soul gem up to his eyes as the cat-like creature watched him from the ledge. He could almost imagine that if some force were to push down at the top of it, and the metallic decorations at its base were removed, that it would turn into a shape not unlike the grief seed he had in hand. His eyes narrowed.

That wasn’t the only thing though. Something about what the creature had said bothered him. He ran over the words in his head as he looked towards it. The suspicious look on his face replaced by one of flat disinterest. “Mage?”

“Yes,” the creature replied. “A magical warrior.”

“Actually, the word ‘mage’ comes from the Latin ‘magus’, where it means ‘magician’ or ‘learned magician’. It was considered to be archaic by the late 19th century, but has recently come into popular use due to fantasy games.” Spencer frowned as he stopped next into Aaron. “Are there mages we have to be worried about in addition to archmages now?”

Aaron shook his head and threw the grief seed at Spencer. He smirked when he saw that the younger man managed to catch it. “That’s our reward for killing archmages. Use it to remove the corruption from your soul gem. I think there’s still some space in it to remove whatever there is in yours.”

The previous conversation was momentarily forgotten. He was sure that Spencer would bring it up sooner or later, but he had an excuse on hand to prevent Spencer from digging deeper.

Aaron had his suspicions about what might be happening, but it wouldn’t do to worry Spencer about it. For one, his suspicions might be wrong. For another, Spencer didn’t seem to suspect anything was amiss about this endeavor, dangerous as it might be. He didn’t want to be the one to ruin that for him.

(He didn’t notice how the cat-like creature had not taken its eyes off of him the entire time, and how it continued to stare at him. Even when he left, it continued to stare until he disappeared past the horizon.)

……

_Aaron opened his eyes and looked up to Spencer one final time. “I’m sorry, Reid. This is something I have to do.” A wry grin spread across his face as he gave a bitter chuckle. “I feel like this is preferable to what was meant to happen though.”_

_He looked down at the soul gem. On a count of ten then. He inhaled shakily._

_One. Two. Three._

_Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed. Preferable to what was meant to happen. “Hotch? What do you mean by that?”_

_Four. Five. Six. His finger tightened on the trigger._

_“What is meant to happen?”_

_Seven. Eight. Nine._

_“Hotch?! Explain-“_

_Ten._

_The bullet tore from the gun like a blast of thunder. The glass from the soul gem shattered on impact and faded into the wind. Aaron Hotchner slumped onto the ground, dead. His eyes open and lifeless._

_Spencer dove to the ground and managed to catch him before his head hit the floor. “No! Hotch!” He shook the dead man to no avail. He felt for a pulse that was not there. He panicked when he realized how cold Aaron’s body was. How could Aaron’s body be so cold? Shouldn’t it be warm? Aaron had only died a few seconds ago, but his body temperature was like- he had been dead this whole time. “No, that can’t be-“_

_Fear and understanding began to war in his mind, and rage began to form deep in his belly. Spencer looked up to the cat-like creature that sat on the table above him. “You lied to me,” Spencer hissed to it. His eyes narrowed in anger and grief. “You said you could keep him safe! You promised!”_

_The creature tilted its head. “Lie? Why I beg to differ. I simply granted your wish to keep him safe. It’s not my fault if that’s not what you meant. You humans really need to be more specific with your desires you know. Always blaming others for their own failures of communication.”_

_“You promised me!”_

_“I did no such thing. I granted your wish for the power to keep him safe from the monsters around him. I’m sorry that you couldn’t foresee the person he needed to be kept safe from was himself.”_

_Spencer screamed in outrage and clenched tightly at the corpse that he held in his hands. He felt rage and grief fill him. He looked down at the corpse in his arms. “I will protect you. I promised.”_

_He couldn’t see how his shadows swallowed him whole and turned his body to static. He couldn’t see how the static swallowed him and the corpse in his arms. He couldn’t see a dark cloud blossom from deep within his blood orange soul gem, and how the glass cracked and shattered into a thousand shards. He couldn’t see how the decorations were blasted away and how the metal bent and spun until it settled into its final shape._

_He couldn’t hear as an unearthly scream tore through the house. How the wind howled and blew everything around him away._

_He couldn’t hear the eerie music that began to play. He couldn’t see the air began to shift and shiver around him. He couldn’t feel reality began to warp until it settled into a scene more reminiscent of a child’s nightmare than a person’s house._

_(He couldn’t have known that it was a folly to waste something as limitless as a wish on something as malleable as another human. Humans were soft and weak, and prone to change on whim. Wishes weren’t.)_

_In the background the creature watched as the air shivered and shifted and grew. It watched as the whole house seemed to shiver before it snapped back into itself. The creature jumped off the table and wandered out of the dining room. The music in the air was strongest there, not a surprise._

_The creature took one last look behind it as ghostly letters began to appear in the air. “Siegfried?” A menacing light seemed to enter its eyes. “How fitting.” It turned around and left the house. Its job here was done._


End file.
